Just a Start
by Liana Legaspi
Summary: "Reyna thought about her options here. On one hand, it really wasn't her business and playing teen counselor wasn't really at the top of her list on how she wanted to spend the rest of this trip. But on the other hand, she'd been that person. She knew what it felt like to be the odd one out, and she definitely knew what a broken heart was like." Nico and Reyna on the way to Camp.


To put it simply, Reyna was unamused.

So, out of experience, she kind of figured trekking all the way to New York via shadow travel wasn't going to be fun. She'd gone on enough quests to know that yeah, adventure sounds pretty cool but by the fifth day it was going to feel like hell. But this, this was completely unbearable, borderline agony.

Fighting monsters, no biggie—an everyday part of life. Sleeping in the woods with nothing but a mossy little rock for a pillow? She figured as much. Reyna was used to this. This was normal. Routine even. Point is, she knew what she was signing up for.

What she hadn't been expecting was a broody son of Hades working through some teenage problems. She caught on it almost as soon as they left the _Argo II._ He'd been pretty content during the goodbye. Hazel kissed his cheek, Leo told them good luck, Jason hugged each of them (well, actually just her; Nico didn't really feel like hugging). It was when Percy and Annabeth said goodbye that Reyna felt something off.

She's noticed the way his eyes had dulled, the way his shoulders sagged. She didn't get a whole lot of time to think on it though, 'cause as soon as the words "we'll keep in touch" left Annabeth's mouth, Nico shadow traveled away.

If she was being honest, Reyna_ shouldn't_ be able to read him all that well. Sure, she'd seen him at Camp Jupiter enough, and they'd talked but that was more about how to save the world instead of something like, hey, what's your favorite color? (Not to sound stereotypical, but Reyna would guess black.) But despite popular belief, Reyna was in fact, a people person.

She knew people at a glance, even if they didn't really understand her. For five years, she worked at a spa. She needed to get her customers to like her and to do that, she needed to read them. Granted, not what your typical spa attendant would do, but C.C.'s Resort and Spa was pretty much anything but normal. Their customer service wasn't so much, "we'll relax you and give you a makeover" so much as "we'll just doll you up and keep you."

No, Reyna could tell something was wrong, but even more so, she could tell the kid needed space. Which she was okay with. She wasn't like Gwen where she could just sit him down for hot cocoa and have deep, personal discussions, and she had a feeling Nico wouldn't really appreciate her efforts anyways, so there. Besides, this was a quest. There really wasn't any time for coddling.

She let him be his broody little self. They didn't talk, only one-word sentences like, "Duck!" or "Wait." They did everything perfectly. Covered they're trails, rested when they could, took out monsters before they even realized two demigods were there. They were all right. A little sleep-deprived and to be honest, Reyna was kind of getting sick of beef jerky, but it wasn't horrible.

It was the Cyclopes that really shed some light on the situation. Reyna would like to say they should've been more careful, but honestly? They wasn't anything they could've done differently. The Cyclopes spun a trap so perfectly, hit them where it hurt—there wasn't any way to avoid it.

It was a classic tactic, and by all rights, she should've seen it a mile away. But she didn't. And she couldn't apologize enough. Reyna thought she heard her sister calling for help.

For a second, her throat closed. Beside her, Nico stilled.

"_Reyna!"_

And then she was running. Her vision tunneled. For a split second, she forgot all about her quest. About Nico, about the Athena Parthenos, the Greeks, the Romans—all she wanted to do was find her sister. Nico struggled after her, and in the back of her mind, she realized she should probably wait for him. With all the shadow traveling he'd been doing, he'd been finding it harder and harder to keep up. But at the moment, she just couldn't care.

"Reyna, wait!" he called. "It's not—"

"_Reyna!"_

She kept running. They were already far off track before Reyna realized it wasn't her sister calling for help anymore. It took a five-count for her to realize who it was, but Nico recognized it in an instant.

Reyna watched his face morph into absolute horror, and she matched his look with confusion. His eyes widened and his jaw went a little slack. "Percy…"

Quickly, he shut his eyes tight and shook his head. "It's not them."

She stared. "What—"

"It couldn't be," he told her, voice steely. "It's just…just a monster, a Cyclopes. It's what they do. They copy voices of people you—of people you know and they lure you into a trap. It's a _trick_, 's not Percy. It can't be."

Maybe it was the way his voice strained, or how his eyes shined, but for the first time, Reyna looked at the son of Hades. _Really_ looked at him.

In the distance, she could still hear her sister screaming for help, mixed with Percy's cries. First was the realization that it was just a Cyclopes—that was all. She mentally kicked herself a little. She knew what Cyclopes did, she was better than that. She'd fought monsters her entire life, and here she was making mistakes like a noob. Her sister was okay. She was with her Amazons, and there was no way in Pluto she was going to let herself be a damsel in distress.

And then came the _other _realization. That's when the pieces clicked together.

He'd copied her sister. Not Gwen, not Bobby, not Dakota, not even Jason—Hylla. Because yeah, okay, if she lost Jason (which, arguably enough, she already had) it wouldn't be the end of the world. It would hurt. It'd hurt a lot, but she'd live. On the other hand, if she lost Hylla…that was a completely different level of pain. The Cyclopes found her weak spot, and he used it to his advantage.

She'd run to save Hylla…and Nico and rushed to save Percy. Not Hazel or Annabeth or any other friend, just Percy. She could've wrote it off as a big brother sort of thing, she almost did, but she was a people person. She knew how to read between the lines better than a child of Venus.

Rushing in to save Percy Jackson was about more than just being friends.

Nico must've seen it in her face because he turned away quickly, swallowing. "We should get going. We've wasted enough time here."

He'd walked away then, and Reyna didn't have the heart to do anything but follow after him, trying to ignore the sounds of her sister's screams and the way her heart twisted in her chest. She was more acute to everything after that. The way Nico always kept his distance. How, when the Seven Iris-messaged them, Nico couldn't look anyone in the eye.

Before, Reyna thought he just didn't like people that much. She could relate, it wasn't like she was into girl talks and partying. But now she knew better. He was ashamed to even touch anyone other than his sister.

One night, he caught her staring after sweeping a hand through the IM. His cheeks went a little red, and he narrowed his eyes at his feet. "I'll take first watch," he told her. "That okay with you?"

She'd learned early on that with him, "first watch" meant the entire night, but she didn't want to argue with him. She couldn't be sure if he'd comply or blow up, and Reyna just really didn't feel like running the risk.

"Yeah," she said, "sure."

He nodded curtly and sat at the fires edge. For a while, Reyna just sat, silently watching. The dark circles under his eyes stood out in the firelight. It made him look a lot older than just fourteen.

This…thing he was doing to himself. It was more than a broken heart. So, so much more. A broken heart? It heals, whether the owner thinks it will or not. No, this was about Nico di Angelo. This was about the ghost king who hated who he was. He couldn't bear to be a son of Hades, and he couldn't _stand_ having a crush on Percy. He was uncomfortable in his own skin.

Scratch teenage problems, the kid was depressed.

As far as she could tell, he didn't have any friends at Camp Jupiter. With his father's reputation with the Greeks, the chances of him having friends in Camp Half-Blood were low. Nico was like that one kid at the playground that got there just a little too late and everyone had already gotten into their respective cliques.

Reyna thought about her options here. On one hand, it really wasn't her business and playing teen counselor wasn't really at the top of her list on how she wanted to spend the rest of this trip. But on the other hand…she'd been that person. She knew what it felt like to be the odd one out, to be the freak at the end of the block, and she definitely knew what a broken heart was like.

Reyna slowly lowered herself to sit next to him, searching for something to say. It was far too late to introduce herself, too weak to say hello. Upset with the silence, the words tumbled out before she could stop them. "My favorite color's purple. What's yours?"

It wasn't a pep talk. It wasn't anything extravagant. Reyna didn't know the words to tell him there was absolutely nothing wrong with him in any way, shape, or form. And she didn't have his trust or friendship in order to talk about anything too deep.

Nico's lips twitched up into a small, confused smile. "I kind of like blue."

But it was a start.

* * *

**I swear, everything I've been writing lately is word vomit. I start out with an idea, then I get distracted and can't completely convey the character's feelings in depth, then it gets tacky and sloppy…. *Sigh* Well, I hope you guys found this at least a little amusing.**


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